HONG KONG: Most Asian markets turned lower Friday following a healthy run-up in the week, tracking a sell-off on Wall Street where a plunge in retail giant Macy's fanned concerns about the key US retail sector.Optimism has been high the past four days on solid US jobs data and moderate Emmanuel Macron 's landslide French presidential win Sunday, pushing some markets to multi-year highs.But traders took a step back ahead of the weekend with confidence rattled by a series of below-par Chinese data and Donald Trump's shock firing of the head of the FBI, which some fear could lead to a crisis that will knock the president's economy-boosting agenda offline.On Thursday New York's three main indexes turned negative after Macy's announced a 39 per cent fall in net profit, its latest in a series of weak readings that have have underscored the deterioration of bricks-and-mortar stores due to the rise of e-commerce The figures hit other big-name stores and with the retail sector a crucial driver of the world's top economy , there are fears about the outlook for top retailers.By the break on Friday Tokyo's Nikkei index was down 0.7 per cent from a 17-month high, while Sydney shed 0.7 per cent and Singapore gave up 0.1 per cent. Seoul, which closed Thursday at a record high, eased 0.4 per cent.But Hong Kong was up 0.1 per cent after a four-day rally, while Shanghai -- which has fallen about seven per cent in the past month on worries about a state crackdown on leveraged investing -- also gained 0.1 per cent.The dollar turned lower against its major peers, having enjoyed a surge Thursday on comments from a top Federal Reserve official backing three more interest rates this year.The unit "is weighed down by the Trump/Comey sideshow which has seen the greenback move lower against" major currencies, Stephen Innes, a senior trader at a 618748firm OANDA, said in a commentary.And on oil markets both main contracts pressed on with their recovery from last week's sharp losses, with investors cheering a bigger-than-expected drop in US inventories and signs an OPEC output cut was kicking in.Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.7 per cent at 19,823.28Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 0.1 per cent at 25,141.10Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.1 per cent at 3,065.39Dollar/yen: DOWN at 113.81 yen from 113.88 yenPound/dollar: UP at $1.2890 from $1.2889 at 2100 GMTEuro/dollar: UP at $1.0868 from $1.0863Oil - West Texas Intermediate: UP seven cents at $47.90 per barrelOil - Brent North Sea: UP four cents at $50.81New York - Dow: DOWN 0.1 per cent at 20,919.42 (close)London - FTSE 100: FLAT at 7,386.63 (close)

Source: Economic Times May 12, 2017 03:45 UTC